This is our place
by lishbug
Summary: Patsy and Delia either came back after being away or never left. These are the stories of their life and the lives of others at Nonnatus House
1. Chapter 1

Patience Mount sat at the dining table with a cup of tea in front of her. It was 3 AM. Her uniform hat rested on the table beside her biscuit plate. Her shirt loosened. Her usual proper posture was a bit sunken. She lifted the tea and took a small sip.

It had been a very long night. At 3 PM she was called out to Mrs. Hughes flat. Her water had broken on her way home from morning mass. Her eldest son called for midwives and Patsy rushed over. It started as a typical labor. This was her 5th labor and she had been presenting perfectly during her clinic visits.

Everything seemed fine. Until it wasn't.

Mrs. Hughes delivered at 10pm, a small but healthy boy. A shock of black hair. Just like his 3 brothers and 1 sister before him. He was settled in to his cot after a quick check from Patsy.

Patsy sat at the table and shivered as she remembered the next horrifying moments after the youngest Hughes made his arrival.

Mrs. Hughes began bleeding a little. She sent the eldest son to call for the doctor. Dr. Turner arrived and went through the motions to stop the bleeding but it got worse. She would need surgery. He rang for the ambulance.

So much blood. Mrs. Hughes went unconscious before the ambulance arrived. The hustle and the bustle of the ambulance arriving and taking Mrs. Hughes away was overwhelming. Dr. Turner took the baby and rode to the hospital with them.

This left Patsy in the Hughes' flat with 4 shocked children and a bloody mess.

Mr. Hughes was away just off shore till morning.

The eldest Tommy, 15 looked pale.

His voice cracked, "will mum be okay?"

Patsy swallowed, "She is going to the best place. Take your brothers and sister into the kitchen."

The younger kids were whimpering and crying. The commotion of the last hour waking them up and drawing them out of bed.

Tommy ushered his siblings into the kitchen and made about making warm milk.

Patsy's heart swelled and broke simultaneously,

"Tommy, do you have anyone I can call to come stay with you?"

"No nurse, just us. I can take care of them. I always do when mum has to go out while father is off shore"

Patsy watched as he took gentle care of his siblings: 12 year old, Bobby, a 9 year old, Mary, a 5 year old, Curtis. Each one with tousled black hair and wet blue eyes.

Patsy nodded and turned to clean up in the bedroom. She stripped away the soiled linens and bagged it all away for the incinerator. She would send over new linens from the stores in Nonnatus House. She fetched a bucket and cleaned the floor.

"I could have done that Nurse Mount," Tommy said from the door as she stood.

"Sweet boy, but you shouldn't have to." She wrapped the boy in a hug imparting the last of her strength on the young man.

She tidied away everything, packed her bike and turned to Tommy one last time.

"I will call over tomorrow to check on you all. Please try to get some sleep."

Tommy nodded and she could feel him watch her ride away.

Patsy was drawn from her thoughts when she heard slippered feet pause beside her.

Sr. Monica Joan was up, still in her night clothes.

"My child, why are you sitting here. I can hear your disquiet all the way upstairs."

Patsy tried to smile, it did not reach her eyes. "I am far too tired to move."

"Watching your tea get cold is not going to solve your problems. Arise to your feet and ascend to bed. I shall sort out your china and this biscuit. We shall not miss you at breakfast."

Patsy knew better than to argue with the older sister and rose wearily to her feet, picked up her hat and went up to the bathroom to wash up. Her robe and supplies resting on a chair just inside the bathroom door. A note in Trixie's handwriting said: I know you won't bother the room twice if I am asleep and you shall sleep better with a bath. I do hope all is well with Mrs. Hughes. T

Patsy smiled, and tiredly set about her routine.

Trixie was sound asleep and didn't even shift when Patsy entered. Quietly she dressed in her striped pajamas. The pants and loose shirt a welcome relief after grueling hours in the uniform.

She looked at her bed. A knot caught in her throat. She saw in her minds eye Mrs Hughes unconscious, blood everywhere, Tommy's pale face.

She turned to look at Trixie, still unmoving just the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

Delia.

Delia was working the overnight shift at the hospital she would be home in a couple hours.

Patsy tiptoed out the door and into the hall. She quietly turned the knob on Delia's door and slipped in.

Sr. Monica Joan was just reaching the hall when she saw the red head disappear through the door. A door that was not her own. Sr. Monica Joan smiled to herself and continued on her way.

Patsy didn't turn on a light as she slipped beneath Delia's covers, breathed in her scent and fell into a fitful sleep.

An hour and a half later

Delia climbed the stairs to her room. Her shift was unexciting, but long. Still, she was tired. Next week she went back to her day shift and she couldn't wait. For the past 6 weeks she had been working evenings or nights and was never home or awake when the others were. She had barely spoken to Patsy more that a sentence a day for most of that time.

As she was the only one moving around in the hallways she began loosening her fasteners on her uniform as she moved.

She knew that the others were beginning to stir and the sisters were already up and at morning prayer. She could hear them singing as she came in.

After a quick stop in the bathroom she quickly slipped into her room as Phylis opened her own door flattening out her uniform as she went to start her day.

Passing ships, passing shifts. Delia thought to herself. As she turned into her room she saw red hair splayed across her pillow and the tall woman curled tightly in a ball, blankets off as if a tussle had taken place.

She was happily surprised to see Patsy in her bed, but wondered why she was sleeping so roughly.

Delia picked up the blankets and laid them across the bed, covering Patsy in the process. Patsy loosened her ball with the added warmth.

Delia changed quietly and slid under the covers behind Patsy. She draped her arm around her. Patsy instinctively began to relax and curl into her.

Delia soon slept.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The sun had long risen when Patsy's eyes fluttered open.

She smiled as she registered the warmth and softness pressed against her back.

A twinge of need raced through her and her heart rate increased as sensations ripped through her body.

She was afraid to move. She didn't want to wake Delia. She wanted to let her sleep.

So she lay there daydreaming about Delia and all they could possibly do.

When she opened her eyes again this time with a startle, she realized she must have fallen asleep.

She was laying on her back now and Delia has her head on her chest.

"You're awake" Delia's voice was muffled in the fabrics of shirts and sheets.

"Yeah"

"You were dreaming" Delia lifted her head to look at Patsy.

Patsy blushed, "oh?"

"Mmhmm. Was it good?"

Patsy paused to think, remembering her dream.

"It was, then it wasn't."

"Tell me about it?" Delia smoothed her hand over Patsy's chest, resting it between her breasts.

"The good or the bad," Patsy tried on a smirk but it was forced.

"Both sweetheart, both"

Patsy explained that she awoke earlier and was thinking of Them together. Then after she fell asleep she was transported back to her awful night.

Delia listened until Patsy finished her story, which ended with her crawling into Delia's bed.

"Ohh love. I'm so sorry I was not here when you needed me." She drew her closer and kissed her forehead.

Patsy closed her eyes with the sensation. Whenever Delia touched her her mind went blank and her body went slack.

"I'm not ready to get up. What time is it?"

Delia looked behind her at the clock. "8, everyone will have been long gone by now."

"I am not on the rotation til after luncheon. When do you work today?"

"I don't, my next shift is tomorrow. Only 3 more night shifts. Then, I have 2 days off and I go back to days."

"Oh thank goodness. I miss you."

Patsy shifted so they were facing each other and gently kissed Delia across the lips.

Delia grinned and bit her lower lip as Patsy drew away.

Delia traced the v made by Patsy's pajama top. Patsy's eyes closed at the touch and she smiled.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Watching"

"I love waking up like this"

"Like this," Delia undid a button.

"Mmhmm"

"And this," she undid the rest of the buttons and parted the shirt.

"Yeah."

"How about this," Delia kissed the side of Patsy's breast.

Patsy shifted as fire shot through her.

Delia took a nipple in her mouth and gently sucked, she ran her tongue over it as she let go. She moved to the other breast and Patsy gasped. Patsy placed her hand over her mouth to stifle her sounds.

"Delia," Patsy whispered.

"Shhh."

"Please…"

Delia slid her one hand down her lovers abdomen and teased under her waste band. She guided her hand further and the tips of her fingers brushed at the course hair.

"Deels" Patsy gasped and sucked in her lip. "Kiss me"

Delia shifted to kiss her as she simultaneously slid over Patsy's clit.

Patsy lifted her hips. They moved together until Patsy sagged.

"Delia"

"You're so beautiful."

"I love you"

The two women fell back to sleep.

A knock broke through the slumber.

It grew more insistent.

The women woke with a start.

Delia flung the sheet aside and grabbed her robe.

Patsy quickly pulled the sheets back over herself to be fully covered.

Delia craked the door and poked out her head.

Trixie was standing on the other side of the door. Blonde hair done to perfection and wide eyes.

"Trixie?"

"I thought that you would like to know that Tommy Hughes was at the door." She look pointedly at Delia and spoke in a loud whisper.

Delia and Trixie stared at each other for a dragging moment.

"Yes, thank you. I will be right down."

Delia shut the door and Patsy was already buttoning up her shirt and

Moving toward her.

"I heard. I should get dressed and go tend to Tommy."

"Yes you should, I am going back to bed for a while."

"Thank you, and I am sorry."

"For what?"

"You know" Patsy made some vague hand gestures.

"Oh darling, another time is fine."

Patsy kissed her

Gently and turned to go.

She poked her head out the door and started down the hall to her own room.

Once there she started. Trixie was sitting there. She crooked her brow, stood and left.

Over her shoulder she said, "Tommy is having a biscuit with Sr. Monica Joan. Asked to see you specifically"

Patsy was having trouble wrapping her head around the last 12 hours.

But she washed, dressed in her uniform and went in search of her young friend.


End file.
